Wales boss Craig Bellamy backs England to win World Cup, says not interested in Celtic job
Craig Bellamy annoyed talks with Tottenham defender Ashley Phillips made public ahead of World Cup play-off against Bosnia and Herzegovina
Wales boss Craig Bellamy has backed England to win the World Cup, saying the only thing that could stop Thomas Tuchel’s side is the summer heat in the United States.
Despite that prediction, Bellamy still hopes to persuade Tottenham’s English defender Ashley Phillips to switch sides, even if he admitted on Friday to being “very disappointed” that talks around the move had been leaked to the media.
The clearly annoyed Welshman, in Hong Kong to attend the draw for May’s HKFC Standard Chartered Soccer Sevens, said making the discussions public “does us no favours”.
It emerged this week that Bellamy, who also dismissed the idea he would be interested in either the vacant Celtic job this summer or another club position, was aiming to include 20-year-old Phillips in his squad for a World Cup play-off semi-final against Bosnia and Herzegovina later this month.
The Salford-born centre-back, who has a Welsh mother, played one game for Wales at under-16 level before representing England at every age group from under-17 to under-21.
Currently on loan with Championship club Stoke City, he most recently played for England under-21s last November.